COMMENTARY

After the election of Benedict XVI in 2005, one cardinal remarked that if the only consequence of Joseph Ratzinger’s election was that people would now read his books, it would be a success.

Eight years later, as Benedict lays down his crozier, there is more than something to that.

The near-universal assessment of Benedict’s eight years is that he has been an exemplary disciple and a superlative teacher.

“The Holy Father has been one of the world’s, and history’s, great, great teachers of the faith,” said Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, president of the Canadian episcopal conference, in one of many similar assessments.

COMMENTARY: Part 4 in a Register series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about Understanding in his master work 'Summa Theologiae.'

– Detail of painting by Fra Bartolomeo (1472-1517)

The second sanctifying gift of the Holy Spirit is understanding. What is understanding anyway? And what do we mean when we speak of understanding as a sanctifying gift?

Before we talk about understanding as a gift of the Holy Spirit, we need to talk about understanding as a natural human faculty. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us:

“Understanding implies an intimate knowledge, for intelligere [to understand] is the same as intus legere [to read inwardly]. This is clear to anyone who considers the difference between intellect and sense, because sensitive knowledge is concerned with external sensible qualities, whereas intellective knowledge penetrates into the very essence of a thing, because...READ MORE

Law student warns against the social harm that would come from a redefinition of marriage.

WASHINGTON — At the heart of the national debate on same-sex “marriage” and unions is a fundamental disagreement on the nature of marriage, said a participant in a recent discussion at Harvard Law School.

The Holy Father reflects on his last eight years as the bishop of Rome.

Pilgrims throng to Pope Benedict’s final general audience Feb. 27 in St. Peter’s Square.

– EWTN/Peter Gagnon

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI told the hundreds of thousands of people who came to his final general audience Feb. 27 that he is filled with trust and peace as he prepares to resign because the Church is not his, but God’s, and he will “not let it sink.”

“In this moment,” the Pope said, “there is in me a great trust because I know, we all know, that the word of truth of the Gospel is the strength of the Church; it is her life. … This is my trust; this is my joy.”

The Pope made his way through St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile and was welcomed by cheering throngs of pilgrims from all over Europe and abroad.

“The heart of a pope,” he told the assembly, “reaches out to the entire...READ MORE

Seminarians and young priests credit the Holy Father’s example of fidelity with opening their own hearts to the call of Christ.

Pope Benedict speaks April 19, 2008, to a Young Catholics event at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.

– Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy may have lasted eight years, but the retiring Holy Father and his reforms have left their mark on the American priesthood and sparked a new uptick in vocations.

Father Michael Roche, 34, remembers when he left his desk at a Pittsburgh accounting firm to watch the news of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s election to the papacy in 2005.

“I was just thrilled and filled with tremendous joy,” Father Roche recalled. He had walked away from his cubicle at the Grossman, Yanak and Ford building upon hearing the news of “white smoke” to watch the television in the company cafeteria. He was a layman asking questions about his vocation at the time and felt a...READ MORE